[Serum enzyme dynamics in progressive muscular dystrophies]

The activity of serum enzymes, such as, creatine kinase (CK), pyruvate kinase (PK), aldolase (ALD), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), sorbitol dehydrogenase (SbDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), glutamate-aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glutamate-alanine aminotransferase (ALT), myokinase (MK), glucosephosphate isomerase (GPI), alkaline phosphatase (AlkP), pseudocholinesterase (PsCHE) isocitrate dehydrogenase and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GTP), was determined in 256 patients with progressing myodystrophy (PMD) (Duchenne's form in 125, Becker's form in 14, pelvicohumeral form in 36, humeroscapulofacial form in 19, ocular form in 10, other rare forms in 34, and nonidentified forms in 13 patients). In the control group (64 men, 56 women and 50 children), the activity of the enzymes was found to depend on the patients' sex and age. With regard to both parameters, i. e. the degree of the enzyme activity rise and the frequency of the pathological values the most informative were CK, then PK and ALD, and then all the other enzymes. Of all the PMD forms the enzymatic activity appeared to be the highest in patients with the pseudohypertrophic malignant form. By determining the activity of five enzymes (CK, ALD, LDH, AST and ALT) and taking into consideration the patient's age, the onset and the duration of the disease one can distinguish between sick and healthy subjects, as well as between various forms of PMD.